The kindness I received, the love I experienced, and the knowledge I gained simply move me. I keep saying this, but I literally can’t imagine a better summer. And what a treat that it is my last summer as a proper student!
I am afraid I may have to barrage you with photos, dear readers. I will try and find the words, even 36000ft high as I am!
I believe we left off blogs with my visit to my Uncle Neil’s house… Well, it was a treat to stay there for that weekend. Coming out of easily the most stressful week at the Oxford program, having the opportunity to play out in the yard, go bowling, help cook and wash up, and spend quality time with my cousins who I so rarely see was exactly what I needed. In the mornings, they even let me do my homework quietly!
The most bizarre thing to me is how much my cousins grow every time I see them. Every time, I exclaim, “My how you’ve grown!” and give them the, “You’re so tall! Look how tall you are!” hug. And though I still remember exactly how annoying that is, I can’t help but enjoy it. I had to endure it – it’s sort of like revenge, except much more subtle. I truly wish that I would be able to see them more often, to really get to know them as the little people they are becoming. I was “assaulted” by five cousins at once, and, in my opinion, nothing could be more delightful.
My Auntie Kara and her family stopped by that weekend to see me, too, and we had a lovely, large family dinner – Grandad, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins. It is so rare that I experience that, I had to soak it in while I could! The next afternoon, I even got to visit Brighton for a few hours with Kara & Co, where they were nice enough to buy me some ice cream and put me on a train back “home” to Oxford.
The following week at Oxford was an opportunity to go visit another English garden, which, before this summer, sounded like something dreadfully dull, if pretty.
Well, really it was rather dull, except that I got to stomp around all over an English garden with my friends. It provided many a picturesque view.
At one end of it was a Temple of Apollo, where a scene from the latest Pride and Prejudice was filmed (the scene where Darcy proposes for the first time). We all had fun proposing to each other (and rejecting their proposals!) and I even pretended to be a statue on one of the empty plinths.
The gardens themselves were absolutely stunning, and provided plenty of great landscapes for great photos.
The following weekend, I went to Cheshire to visit my cousin Josh, who is the cousin I have spent the most time with in the past. He’s come out to Texas a number of times to stay with us for a few weeks, and spending time with him was lovely.
He showed me Chester, the city near which he lives, and I didn’t waste any opportunity I had to take pictures of lovely old buildings.
Chester Cathedral in particular was absolutely magical – something about the light coming in through the clerestory and illuminating the very dark stone from which the cathedral was built.
I didn’t think I could love a cathedral more than I love Canterbury Cathedral, but this one certainly came close.
(Although I won’t post this until probably later this week when I have both internet AND time to add photos, I would like it known that I’ve just entered the United States again! We’re just flying over Vermont! Two hours to go on this flight, seven hours have passed! Woohoo!)
Josh and I took his dog Skye for a walk through the countryside,
...and WOW. I can’t BELIEVE the views that I had from up there! I could see to Wales – literally!
It was something like walking the Moors in Yorkshire – I didn’t think that I could properly explain the feeling from way up high looking down across the English hills, knowing full well that this is what people see every day when they walk their dogs.
God bless Austin, but Austin can’t compare. I came away from that walk totally reinvigorated, ready to tackle the rest of my time in England. I also came from that walk asking, “Is this real life?”
My last week at Oxford was, well, bittersweet. There was a lot of talk of lasts – last milkshake at Shakespeare’s, last trip to Oxfam, last tea in Blackwell’s – and for me it was no different to anyone else. We went to see Kenilworth Castle, where we climbed all over the ruins, pretty sure that we were going to be picked up and blown away by the wind!
My friend Jeanine and I found a tree – which we fondly named Dudley, after one of the people tied to the castle (Builder? Owner? Lived there? Can’t remember!) and had some of the most relaxing, quiet moments of the entire program.
(There's Jeanine, shaded by Dudley. :) )
We just laid in the grass, listening to the wind blow the trees this way and that… I love that the trees seemed to be whispering Shhh… Stefanie, be still, be quiet, enjoy your last moments while you can...
After those lovely moments, we clambered back on the bus to Stratford Upon Avon again.
where I visited Shakespeare’s grave (I thought it would bring the trip full circle in a very nice way, what with visiting his birthplace the first time!)
and then sat one pub having dinner and another having drinks for a few hours. It was spectacular – I finally found £2 beer! (It was awful beer… but it was only £2!) and then saw the RCS’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I loved it. It was raunchy in all the right ways, it was bizarre enough to keep me interested (I’ve seen a few productions of it as well as was in one in high school), and the actors were stellar. I believe that we saw the actress who played Helena make her debut on that stage that night!
When we returned to Oxford, the next day my friend Caron and I decided to visit two of the museums that we hadn’t yet visited, and have some cream tea and scones at the White Horse in between the two. The Ashmolean was lovely, but massive (we walked through many of the rooms, but didn’t nearly visit it the way we could have!) and the second museum was a natural history museum whose name I forget, but I was delighted with the second one. It screamed “19th Century” to me, and really was a cabinet of curiosities.
There were skeletons, specimens in jars, stuffed specimens, things to touch, and things to explore that stimulated of your senses (seriously – some signs instructed you to smell the objects! But none instructed you to taste anything!) Outside of the museum, there’s a sign that says that this museum is where Darwin’s Origins of Species was debated, and my friends Katie and Caron took it upon themselves to demonstrate for me what the debate had probably been like.
Final banquet was a formal event, and everyone dressed up for it! We all (sans one of the professors, who wandered off somewhere) posed for a photo or twelve, and then had a delicious three course meal in the Hall.
Afterwards, we went to the JCR, our makeshift classroom of the summer, and enjoyed a series of skits, songs, and improv for a few hours. A bunch of people went out for the after after banquet party at the pub, but I had to go to my room and pack all of my stuff!
The next day I have already written about in my last blog, so I will spare you another rendition!
The following weekend was spent mostly in Central London – I was staying at Siobhan’s house near Wimbledon (I spent a lot of time traveling up and down the Northern Line. Pretty sure I’ve memorized the way that “This train terminates at Morden” sounds in that lady’s voice on the metro!) I met up with my old nanny Anika and her boyfriend Sean, and the two of them were just so lovely and kind!
It was lovely to meet Sean and great to catch up with Annie, who I haven’t seen in six years! We went all over London, doing the very typical attractions (some of which I hadn’t yet visited!) I was very sad to say farewell to them on Monday – They made my last weekend in England that much better! We got to eat at Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Covent Garden - Jamie's Italian - and that was super yummy! I want Jamie to put one here in Austin now...
Saturday night was a joint party for Siobhan and her roommate Theodora’s birthdays (Siobhan’s 21st was yesterday, Thee’s in a few weeks). It was a fun party!
Someone nicked my camera (but I got it back, no worries!), so there are a lot of photos of me from that night, which was really unusual for me to see. Definitely not used to so many photos of ME!
Last night, Siobhan, her parents and I went to TGI Friday’s to celebrate her birthday. We were joking that it was prepping me for my return to America!
And certainly my burger did make me miss my home even more! The margarita I ordered was so terrible that I missed going to Chuy’s every Sunday evening with Ally!
(Here, I had to close my computer because we were landing. Begin blog written on Saturday morning!)
That brings me to my flights. Nine hours from London to Atlanta (I watched movies and chatted with the lady next to me for a few hours – She was very sweet and offered that if I were to ever go to Orlando in Florida, I could stay with her and her husband. I don’t know if I’ll take her up on it, but it was lovely to meet someone who also loves to travel as much as I do!)
My mom had a business trip in Atlanta and was set to go back to Austin on the same day as me, and she was sweet enough to book herself on the same flight home from Atlanta! She used her superior Airport Superpowers to finagle her way into the seat next to mine, and we spent the flight home drinking wine and chatting about our summers. Alright, mostly it was me chatting. I was very tired, but I pushed myself to stay awake the whole time!
I breathed a sigh of relief when I crawled into my bed at Mom’s house. Home sweet home…
BEST SUMMER EVER.
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